Breeder "glued ears" to train them

[ClantyreSheltie]

It blows my mind that people find this acceptable. If I got a sheltie from a breeder - or anyone else - and his ears were glued, I'd be furious.

Welcome to Sheltie 101! We glue/tape ears. We don't cut any bits off of them, and if you choose not to continue, the ears won't fall off.

I've put together three pictures of the same dog, with different ear sets, which demonstrates exactly why we tape ears.

Photo 1: Taken at a specialty when he was 6 months, 2 weeks old, before he got to be 17" tall. Ears just out of braces, and groomed to my level of "show grooming". I don't overdo ear trimming, obviously.

Photo 2: Taken at 21 months. I have obviously stopped caring about ears, given that he is 17" tall. This is what I look at on a daily basis.

Photo 3: Taken at 27 months, where I squished his ears over for the photo, and one of them mostly stayed. The other was having no part of it. Leave enough hair on the ear and you can mostly get away with it.

You can really see how it alters the expression and how the head appears with the different kinds of ear sets.

Functionally? It's completely cosmetic. In spite of the claims of some breeders, tipped ears serve ZERO function in the dogs working ability.

 

[Calliesmom]

Welcome to Sheltie 101! We glue/tape ears. We don't cut any bits off of them, and if you choose not to continue, the ears won't fall off.

I've put together three pictures of the same dog, with different ear sets, which demonstrates exactly why we tape ears.

Photo 1: Taken at a specialty when he was 6 months, 2 weeks old, before he got to be 17" tall. Ears just out of braces, and groomed to my level of "show grooming". I don't overdo ear trimming, obviously.

Photo 2: Taken at 21 months. I have obviously stopped caring about ears, given that he is 17" tall. This is what I look at on a daily basis.

Photo 3: Taken at 27 months, where I squished his ears over for the photo, and one of them mostly stayed. The other was having no part of it. Leave enough hair on the ear and you can mostly get away with it.

You can really see how it alters the expression and how the head appears with the different kinds of ear sets.

Functionally? It's completely cosmetic. In spite of the claims of some breeders, tipped ears serve ZERO function in the dogs working ability.

only saw 2 pix at that link...................

 

[Susan D]

Sorry if I offended anyone. I guess I spoke out a little more than I should have. The braces analogy makes some sense to me. I suppose it's fine if it doesn't hurt the dog. Not for us, though. Personally, I prefer Fasb's ears as they are - tipped. Is that the expression.

Because the Sheltie breed standard says it should.
http://www.assa.org/standard.html

This is what I thought all along. Not really a good reason, in my opinion.

 

[MissyGallant]

The glue will definitely wear off. Don't worry. I did research once upon a million years ago and found out that originally, the ears were tipped for an actual reason. The weather on the Shetland Islands is dreadful. The tipped ears helped prevent rain and ice from going into the ear canal. Some ears tip naturally, some don't. Sometimes, you'll get a sheltie whose ears will not be trained, no matter what. Sometimes, one stands straight up and the other folds. The gluing doesn't hurt anymore than bending your own earlobe. (And I mean the earlobe part, not the top part.)

 

[SKNerissa]

Eventually, over time, as it grows new hair. If you want it gone sooner, you can use olive oil or baby oil. The latex based hair glues break down with oil.....

Thanks so much for your post!! I have a life-threatening latex allergy and planned on using glue if my future Collie or Sheltie pup(s) have pricked ears. I never even considered the possibility of the glue containing latex!

For the original poster, there is a human, medical grade, universal adhesive remover called Remove. It's designed to safely and gently remove acrylic, rubber/latex, and hydrocolloid based adhesives. I use it on all sorts of sticky residues and have never had it fail to work. It's advertised as beinging very safe and environmentally friendly but I would recommend checking with a vet and/or the manufacturer (smith&nephew) before using it on a puppy. I am sure it would remove the glue if that's your preference and you want the residue out quickly. Again, just check to make sure it's safe for use on puppies. (Another few words of caution: Remove will strip paint, is flammable and it's stinky so use it in a ventilated area. It is gentle on human skin though and contains skin moisturizers including aloe.)